The '''Living Corpse Reincarnation''' is a technique that was developed by Orochimaru that allows him to transfer his soul to someone else's body.

The '''Living Corpse Reincarnation''' is a technique that was developed by Orochimaru that allows him to transfer his soul to someone else's body.

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If periodically repeated, it grants the user immortality as long as they can find new host bodies and keep them alive. Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years. It also seems that when the three years are almost over, he is forced to move into another host, as the previous one begins to weaken and reject him. Presumably, if he had a proper container, he could stay in the host for a full lifetime. The fact that he wanted to prepare [[Sasuke Uchiha]] as well as several others for the transfer before performing it seems to reinforce this.

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If periodically repeated, it grants the user immortality as long as they can find new host bodies and keep them alive. Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years. It also seems that when the three years are almost over, he is forced to move into another host, as the previous one begins to weaken and reject him. Presumably, if he had a proper container, he could stay in the host for a full lifetime. The fact that he wanted to prepare [[Sasuke Uchiha]] as well as several others for the transfer before performing it reinforces this.

To perform this technique, Orochimaru reveals his [[Orochimaru#Immortality Technique|true form]]: a gigantic white snake composed of smaller white snakes, by abandoning his current host's body. Orochimaru then swallows the new host and takes him or her to a separate, mental plane where he envelops the mind of his victim. The snake body then dies and falls apart, and Orochimaru's soul dominates the body (though the [[Sharingan]] seems to be able to negate and reverse the process against Orochimaru). The souls of the hosts are kept alive within Orochimaru, leaving them "still alive", in a sense (albeit suppressed), and when Orochimaru switches hosts, the souls leave with him. Apparently if the host of these souls' chakra level falls enough it is possible for them to resurface in material form as seen with Orochimaru surfacing with his own body after Sasuke used up most of his chakra.

To perform this technique, Orochimaru reveals his [[Orochimaru#Immortality Technique|true form]]: a gigantic white snake composed of smaller white snakes, by abandoning his current host's body. Orochimaru then swallows the new host and takes him or her to a separate, mental plane where he envelops the mind of his victim. The snake body then dies and falls apart, and Orochimaru's soul dominates the body (though the [[Sharingan]] seems to be able to negate and reverse the process against Orochimaru). The souls of the hosts are kept alive within Orochimaru, leaving them "still alive", in a sense (albeit suppressed), and when Orochimaru switches hosts, the souls leave with him. Apparently if the host of these souls' chakra level falls enough it is possible for them to resurface in material form as seen with Orochimaru surfacing with his own body after Sasuke used up most of his chakra.

The Living Corpse Reincarnation is a technique that was developed by Orochimaru that allows him to transfer his soul to someone else's body.

If periodically repeated, it grants the user immortality as long as they can find new host bodies and keep them alive. Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years. It also seems that when the three years are almost over, he is forced to move into another host, as the previous one begins to weaken and reject him. Presumably, if he had a proper container, he could stay in the host for a full lifetime. The fact that he wanted to prepare Sasuke Uchiha as well as several others for the transfer before performing it reinforces this.

To perform this technique, Orochimaru reveals his true form: a gigantic white snake composed of smaller white snakes, by abandoning his current host's body. Orochimaru then swallows the new host and takes him or her to a separate, mental plane where he envelops the mind of his victim. The snake body then dies and falls apart, and Orochimaru's soul dominates the body (though the Sharingan seems to be able to negate and reverse the process against Orochimaru). The souls of the hosts are kept alive within Orochimaru, leaving them "still alive", in a sense (albeit suppressed), and when Orochimaru switches hosts, the souls leave with him. Apparently if the host of these souls' chakra level falls enough it is possible for them to resurface in material form as seen with Orochimaru surfacing with his own body after Sasuke used up most of his chakra.